Chartiers Valley scored only 11 second-half points and turned the ball over down the stretch as Montour came back to defeat the Colts, 47-40, and capture the WPIAL Class AAA boys’ basketball title at the A.J. Palumbo Center.

“It hurts,” said McConnell of the loss.

“But you can’t turn the ball over against a team like theirs. Turnovers killed us.

“We scored only 11 second-half points. We turned the ball over way too much. And, we didn’t get the ball inside the way we would have liked. We gave them too many opportunities to get back into the game.”

The Colts appeared to be on their way to their sixth title under McConnell as they broke out to a 29-16 advantage before the Spartans waged a comeback to close to nine, 29-20, by intermission.

CV opened up the lead by penetrating the paint and dumping off to center Spencer Casson, who had a distinct height advantage over the competition. He scored 14 of his team-high 18 points in the first half. Because of Montour’s defensive pressure, he did not score again until midway through the fourth frame on a pair of free throws that made the score, 35-34. He added a bucket with 2:05 to play.

By then, however the momentum had shifted in the Spartans’ favor. Thanks to back-to-back 3-point field goals by Kevin Scuilli at 2:52 and 1:50, Montour opened up a 42-38 lead. Free throws by Devin Wilson in the final seconds of play sealed the victory for the Spartans.

Wilson exploded for 19 points, 12 in the second half. He also pulled down seven rebounds. Scuilli finished with nine markers as did Justin Hill.

Michael Boulos followed Casson in double digits with 12 while Matty McConnell was limited to four points. Dom Castello and Hayden Herzer each supplied three tallies for CV, which enters PIAA tournament action next week sporting a 22-4.

“We just have to get back to the drawing board and get ready to go,” said McConnell.

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